Ruling out speculations that commercial interests were at the core of the Indo-US civil nuclear pact,former Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen said the full extent of the deals impact was not realised in the country. There have been uninformed speculations about commercial interests being at the core of the US role in freeing India from global isolation from nuclear and other high technology trade, Sen said while delivering the Sarat Bose Memorial Lecture at the Netaji Bhavan here. Suggestions had been made about the desirability of concluding commercial deals with countries like Russia and France while proceeding with the US with caution. This kind of thinking is oblivious of global realities, he said. Sen who was Secretary to the Atomic Energy Commission in the seventies,said that the full extent of the impact of the deal was not realised in India. The essence of the agreement and its implications got lost in the maze of technical and legal details. It was mainly projected in our country in terms of promoting out energy security and in the US,as strengthening non-proliferation and fostering closer partnership with the worlds largest democracy, he said in his lecture last evening. Describing the deal as a most high-profile manifestation of the fundamental change in US perception about Indias position in the global security architecture,Sen said it was also an audacious and unprecedented initiative of the US to single out India for exemption from a major international regime in force for over three decades. It was an extraordinary one-time exemption for an international non-proliferation regime,set up and made progressively restrictive by successive Democratic and Republican presidents. It ended in Indias global isolation from the nuclear cooperation and commerce. At the same time,the US led the world to acknowledge and accept Indias possession of nuclear weapons without formally recognising it as a Nuclear Weapons State under the NPT. The agreement was preceded by the US-led initiative to get a clean waiver from the 45-member NSG giving a fresh impetus to a steady process of loosening of restrictions on the supply of dual-use high technology to India, Sen said. Pointing out that the US position on India progressively evolved in a positive direction during the two terms of George W Bush,he said,Pakistan is no longer seen as a problem between India and the US,but as a common problem for both countries especially,but not exclusively,in the context of global terrorism. According to Sen,there was no US pressure during the Bush regime on resolving differences with Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir or viewing this as the so-called core cause for terrorism. The Bush administration also had close consultations with India on developments in other neighbouring countries and adjoining regions. These confidential consultations have continued with the Obama Administration,including on the Afghan-Pakistan strategy of the US, Sen said. He said although there had been a lack of enthusiasm by Indian and US agencies in terms of operational cooperation against terror,there was a marked improvement in recent years as seen after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Within a few hours of the attacks,I received telephone calls from President-elect Barrack Obama and Secretary of State (Condolezza) Rice,with assurances of active US support, Sen who ended his tenure in the US in March this year,said. Sen,however,asserted that India will never be an ally of the US in the traditional sense despite an improvement in relationships. There will inevitably be issues on which India and US will have differences on approach. This includes issues in which there are no significant divergences in terms of our long-term objectives. Both countries will have to manage expectations and adjust creatively and with innovation, he said.
